Well, this is a very interesting article. 10 years of research point to the fact that a self directed investor is probably going to outperform a financial adviser. There are a few reasons for this, but I won’t spoil the article for you. I highly recommend you check this one out:
http://biz.yahoo.com/brn/061206/20408.html
I have often fretted about whether I should go seek out a financial adviser. I consider myself quite the novice when it comes to investing. To be honest, the most valuable information I’ve gotten is from a friend of mine. I don’t mean “stock tips”, rather fundamental ways to measure a company’s value and how to spot a potential bargain. I’ve watched in amazement as my friend recommends a stock based on his analysis (which he shares) and the stock always seems to go up. Value investing is his favorite.
What would I have gotten if I had chosen to seek out a financial adviser? Well, I just don’t know. If I was lucky enough to find one of those gems out there that cared about fees, loads etc I’d probably be okay, but I’m not sure if it would have outperformed my indexing approach of putting money in different sectors of the economy but doing it by using low cost index funds.
